Music piece distributing apparatus, music piece receiving apparatus, music piece distributing method, music piece receiving method, and music piece distributing system

ABSTRACT

A music piece distributing apparatus receives a request signal including music piece identification information and compressing system identification information from a receiving apparatus and transmits music piece data in which a music piece corresponding to the music piece identification information has been compressed by a compressing system corresponding to the compressing system identification information to the receiving apparatus. The request signal is transmitted through a public line. A music piece receiving apparatus receives the music piece data from the music piece distributing apparatus by a digital broadcasting receiving apparatus and decodes the received music piece data by a compression decoding system corresponding to the compressing system designated by the compressing system identification information.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a music piece distributing apparatus, a musicpiece receiving apparatus, a music piece distributing method, a musicpiece receiving method, and a music piece receiving system which caneasily distribute requested music piece data through digitalbroadcasting.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A communication type KARAOKE system is known as a conventional musicpiece distributing system. The communication type KARAOKE system has thefollowing problems because MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)data is used.

In most cases of making MIDI data, a person who has a special skill hasto listen to music and make a musical score. When MIDI data is made,special skill and knowledge are also needed and it is difficult toaccurately trace the original music piece.

For reproduction by an MIDI sound source, it is difficult to equalizethe tone of a musical instrument, the brace of a wind instrument, thetouch of a keyboard instrument, or the playing manner or cutting of astringed instrument with those of the original music piece. It isdifficult to form the same mood as that of the original music piecewhile including an upsurging manner of a melody or the like.

When data is distributed by audio compression there are problems becausea plurality of audio compressing techniques exist with individualcharacteristics, and independent formats. There is no compatibility.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a system whichselects and distributes music piece data using a compression method thatcan be reproduced (that is, can be decoded) by a receiving apparatus.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to the invention, there also is provided a music piecedistributing apparatus for distributing music piece data on the basis ofa request from a remote receiver, characterized by comprising:

receiving means for receiving a request signal from the receiverincluding at least music piece identification information andcompressing system identification information; and

transmitting means for transmitting music piece data in which a musicpiece corresponding to the music piece identification informationincluded in the received request signal has been compressed by acompressing system corresponding to the compressing systemidentification information included in the request signal.

According to the invention, there also is provided a music piecereceiving apparatus for requesting music piece data of a music pieceselected by the user to a remote music piece distributing apparatus andreceiving and outputting the music piece data distributed from the musicpiece distributing apparatus, characterized by comprising:

forming means for forming a request signal including at least musicpiece identification information to identify the selected music pieceand compressing system identification information to identify acompressing system when the music piece is distributed;

transmitting means for transmitting the formed request signal to themusic piece distributing apparatus;

receiving means for receiving the music piece data distributed from themusic piece distributing apparatus; and

decoding means for decoding the received music piece data by acompression decoding system corresponding to the compressing systemdesignated by the compressing system identification information.

According to the invention, there is further provided a music piecedistributing method of distributing music piece data on the basis of arequest from a remote receiver, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request signal from the receiver including at least musicpiece identification information and compressing system identificationinformation; and

transmitting music piece data in which a music piece corresponding tothe music piece identification information included in the receivedrequest signal has been compressed by a compressing system correspondingto the compressing system identification information included in therequest signal.

According to the invention, there is further provided a music piecereceiving method of requesting music piece data of a music pieceselected by the user to a remote music piece distributing apparatus andreceiving and outputting the music piece data distributed from the musicpiece distributing apparatus, comprising the steps of:

forming a request signal including at least music piece identificationinformation to identify the selected music piece and compressing systemidentification information to identify a compressing system when themusic piece is distributed;

transmitting the formed request signal to the music piece distributingapparatus;

receiving the music piece data distributed from the music piecedistributing apparatus; and

decoding the received music piece data by a compression decoding systemcorresponding to the compressing system designated by the compressingsystem identification information.

According to the invention, there is further provided a music piecedistributing system in which a music piece distributing apparatusdistributes music piece data on the basis of a request from a remotereceiver, wherein

in the receiver,

a request signal including at least music piece identificationinformation to identify the selected music piece and compressing systemidentification information to identify a compressing system when themusic piece is distributed is formed and

the formed request signal is transmitted to the music piece distributingapparatus, and

in the music piece distributing apparatus,

the transmitted request signal is received from the receiver, and

the music piece data in which the music piece corresponding to the musicpiece identification information included in the received request signalhas been compressed by the compressing system corresponding to thecompressing system identification information included in the requestsignal is transmitted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with the inventionis applied;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a music piece distributing apparatus inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a music piece receiving apparatus inaccordance with the invention applied;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a music piece receiving apparatus inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a music piece receiving apparatus inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example of the processes of a KARAOKEapparatus in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the processes of theinvention on the broadcasting station side to which;

FIG. 8 is a constructional example of request data in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an another system in accordance with theinvention is applied;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an another music piece distributingapparatus in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an another music piece receiving apparatusin accordance with the invention is applied;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an another example of the processes of aKARAOKE apparatus in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing another example on the broadcastingstation side in accordance with the invention is applied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the invention will now be described hereinbelow withreference to the drawings.

To make the invention easy, an outline of the invention will be firstexplained. The invention relates to a system in which when KARAOKE songsare sung in a KARAOKE box or the like, compressed music piece data isdecompressed and reproduced, thereby enabling the KARAOKE songs to besung in a mood near to the original music pieces. As main componentelements of the system, there are a digital broadcasting equipment and amusic piece server in order to distribute the music piece data by anarbitrarily designated compressing system. To receive the distributeddata, the KARAOKE box or the like needs a digital broadcasting receivingapparatus together with a KARAOKE apparatus. Further, a communicationterminal using a public line to make a distributing request when a musicpiece which the user tries to sing by KARAOKE is not previously storedis provided. A control unit of distribution data by a request from thecommunication terminal is provided on the broadcasting station side.

Technical requirements will now be described prior to describing anembodiment of the invention. First, with respect to a digitalbroadcasting technique by the ground wave or a communicating andbroadcasting satellite, as digital satellite broadcasting techniqueswhich have been put into practical use, there is a technique using (1)the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) systems and a technique using(2) the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting). As another technique, there isalso a ground wave digital broadcasting technique such as a GA (GrandAlliance) of the U.S.A. or the like. It should be noted here that theinvention not only relates to digital broadcasting but also has afunction of a conditional access which can selectively identify the userwho can received data. A system in accordance with the invention isrealized on the assumption that the technique will be put into practicaluse among the service providers of the digital satellite broadcastings.

As techniques for compressing music pieces, an MPEG audio, an ATRAC(Adaptive TRansform Acoustic Coding), a PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)system, and the like are considered. In the present system, it isassumed that a plurality of compressed data including the MPEG audio andconventional MIDI data are stored into a server of a large scale. As amethod other than the above method, a method of equipping a real-timeencoding system based on various compressing systems and compressing thedata from the original data of music pieces at the time of distributionis also considered. However, if the data has previously been compressed,the data can be soon extracted and this method also contributes to thesaving of memory capacity of the server.

A controller for controlling transmitting equipment of a digitalbroadcasting and a large scale (capacity) server, receiving a requestfrom the user, and distributing compression data of a desired musicpiece is necessary. A public line such as a telephone line or the likeis presumed as communicating means for receiving the request from theuser and it is assumed that the apparatus has a function forautomatically accepting the request from the user by a predeterminedsignal or command. Such a construction can be realized by a computersuch as a PC or workstation having a modem.

It is assumed that the KARAOKE apparatus which is used by the user forKARAOKE has an ordinary mechanism and function. As other devices, areceiver of a digital broadcasting and a decoder for decompressing thecompressed music piece data are needed. The decoder has a storage and,in the case where the music piece selected by the user has been storedin the storage, it is reproduced, and in the case where it is not storedin the storage, a computer which exists in a broadcasting station andcontrols a distributing request is accessed by using a telephone lineand a compressing system and music piece data are requested.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an example of an embodiment of theinvention. Each unit will now be described hereinbelow. It is assumedthat a mechanism of transmission of a digital satellite broadcastingequipment 1 has been constructed by the technique standardized by theMPEG systems or DVB. A music piece server 2 compresses music pieces forKARAOKE by various audio compressing techniques and stores them as adatabase. An accounting server 11 is used to account each time the musicpiece data is distributed in response to a request from the receiver.The above component elements are controlled by a data distributioncontrol apparatus 3 which receives a data distributing request from theuser through a public line 10 and functions.

The distribution data which was up-linked by the digital satellitebroadcasting equipment 1 is returned by a communication and broadcastingsatellite 4 and is received by a receiving apparatus 5 installed in theKARAOKE box or the like. The received distribution data is decompressedby a decoder 6 and is reproduced as a music piece by a KARAOKE apparatus7. The distributed music piece data is recorded as it is to a storagedevice 8 like a hard disk. After that, when the user selects a musicpiece, the music piece is decompressed by the decoder 6 on the basis ofthe data recorded in the storage device 8 and is reproduced by theKARAOKE apparatus 7. When the music piece selected by the user is notrecorded in the storage device 8, a request is sent to the datadistribution control apparatus 3 installed in the broadcasting stationby a request communication terminal 9 via the public line.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed construction of the transmitting station in themusic piece distributing system to which the invention is applied.

In FIG. 2, MIDI data formed by a MIDI data forming apparatus 41 isregistered into a MIDI data server 42. The MIDI data registered in theMIDI data server 42 is sent to a MIDI data transmitting system 43 and ispacketized and, after that, it is transmitted to a multiplexer 44. Amusic piece signal which is not yet compressed has been registered in amusic piece source registering system 45. The music piece signal fromthe music piece source registering system 45 is supplied to a MPEG audioencoder 46 and an ATRAC audio encoder 49 and is encoded, respectively.After that, the encoded signals are registered into an MPEG audio server47 and an ATRAC audio server 50. The MPEG audio data registered in theMPEG audio server 47 is sent to an MPEG audio transmitting system 48 andis packetized here and, after that, it is sent to the multiplexer 44.The ATRAC data registered in the ATRAC audio server 50 is sent to anATRAC audio transmitting system 51 and is packetized and, after that, itis supplied to the multiplexer 44.

Further, audio additional information such as words of songs, musicpiece information, and the like from an audio additional informationregistering system 52 is registered into an audio additional informationdatabase 53. The audio additional information registered in the audioadditional information database 53 is sent to an audio additionalinformation transmitting system 54 and is packetized here and, afterthat, it is supplied to the multiplexer 44.

A video signal from a background video source registering system 55 issupplied to an MPEG2 video encoder 56 and is encoded and, after that, itis registered into an MPEG2 video data server 57. The MPEG2 video dataregistered in the MPEG2 video data server is sent to an MPEG2 video datatransmitting system 58 and is packetized here and, after that, it issupplied to the multiplexer 44.

In the multiplexer 44, the MIDI data packet from the MIDI datatransmitting system 43, the MPEG audio packet from the MPEG audiotransmitting system 48, the ATRAC audio packet from the ATRAC audiotransmitting system 51, the audio additional information packet from theaudio additional information transmitting system 54, and the MPEG2 datapacket from the MPEG2 video data transmitting system 58 are time-basemultiplexed and are enciphered by using a scrambling key.

An output of the multiplexer 44 is sent to a radio wave transmittingsystem 59 and is subjected to processes such as error correction codingof a convolution code, a Reed Solomon code, or the like, QPSK(Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation, frequency conversion, andthe like here. After that, the processed signal is transmitted from anantenna to the satellite 4.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a detailed construction of a receiver 60A inwhich the receiving apparatus 5 and decoder 6 are integratedlyconstructed.

The signal received by the satellite broadcasting antenna is suppliedthrough an input terminal T1 to the receiving apparatus 5 comprising afront-end 61, a descrambler 62, and a transport IC (demultiplexer) 63.

The reception signal inputted to the input terminal T1 is supplied tothe front-end 61. The front-end 61 is constructed by a tuner, a QPSKdemodulator, and an error correcting circuit. On the basis of a setsignal from a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 70 for control, a signal ofa predetermined carrier frequency is selected from the reception signalby the tuner in the front-end 61. The reception signal is demodulated bythe QPSK demodulator. A Viterbi decoding and an error correcting processof the Reed Solomon code or the like are executed in the errorcorrecting circuit. A scrambled MPEG transport stream is outputted.

An output of the front-end 61 is supplied to the descrambler 62. The CPU70 compares reception qualification information included in thereception signal with identification information of the receiver storedin an IC card 74 inserted in an IC card slot 73, thereby discriminatingwhether the reception signal is a signal transmitted to the receiveritself or not. When the reception qualification information included inthe reception signal and the identification information of the receiverstored in the IC card 74 coincide, it is recognized that the receptionsignal is the signal transmitted to the receiver itself. A controlsignal is generated to the descrambler 62 so as to execute adescrambling process. On the contrary, when the reception qualificationinformation included in the reception signal and the identificationinformation of the receiver stored in the IC card 74 do not coincide, itis recognized that the reception signal is not the signal transmitted tothe receiver. The descrambling process is not performed.

The MPEG transport stream descrambled in the descrambler 62 is sent tothe transport IC 63.

On the basis of a command from the CPU 70, the transport IC 63 separatesa desired transport packet from the stream from the descrambler 62. Apacket identifier (PID) showing the kind of transmission data isprovided in a header portion of the transport packet. The transport IC63 detects the PID. The transport packet to transmit the MPEG2 videodata is supplied to an MPEG2 video decoder 68. The transport packet totransmit the MPEG audio data is supplied to an MPEG audio decoder 64.

Since the receiver 60A in FIG. 3 does not correspond to the ATRAC audiodata or MIDI data, the transport packet to transmit those data is notseparated by the transport IC 63 and the data is thrown away.

The MPEG2 video decoder 68 receives the transport packet of the MPEG2video data from the transport IC 63 and executes a decoding process ofthe MPEG2 video system, thereby forming the video data before the datacompression. The video data is supplied to an NTSC converting circuit 69and is converted into a composite video signal and is converted into ananalog signal by the NTSC converting circuit 69. An output of the NTSCconverting circuit 69 is outputted as a background video signal to theKARAOKE apparatus 7 from an analog video output terminal T2.

The MPEG audio decoder 64 receives the transport packet of the MPEGaudio data from the transport IC 63 and executes an audio decodingprocess of the MPEG audio system, thereby forming the audio data beforethe data compression. The decoded audio data is converted into an analogaudio signal by a D/A converter 65 and, after that, it is outputted tothe KARAOKE apparatus 7 from analog audio output terminals T3 and T4.The audio data decoded by the MPEG audio decoder 64 can be alsooutputted to the KARAOKE apparatus 7 through an optical digital outputinterface.

Further, the transport IC 63 separates the audio additional informationpacket included in the transport stream and supplies it to the CPU 70.The CPU 70 processes the supplied audio additional information andsuperimposes it to the background video signal which was subjected tothe decoding process by the MPEG2 video decoder 68.

For example, when a words button (not shown) provided for a remotecontroller 71 is depressed, text data of the words sent as audioadditional information is supplied from the CPU 70 to the MPEG2 videodecoder 68. The superimposing process is executed by using an OSD (OnScreen Display) function of the MPEG2 video decoder 68. The audio soundof the music piece is generated from speakers of the KARAOKE apparatus 7as mentioned above and, at the same time, a background video image inwhich the words have been superimposed is displayed synchronously withthe audio sound.

A modem 75 (corresponding to the request communication terminal 9)connected to the CPU 70 is provided for the receiver 60A. Through themodem, the music piece identification number of the requested musicpiece and information showing a decodable compressing system (MPEG audioin case of FIG. 3) are transmitted to the data distribution controlapparatus 3 via the public line 10 as will be explained hereinlater.

Further, an IEEE1394 interface 76 is connected to the transport IC 63.The IEEE1394 is a bidirectional serial interface which can transmit dataof a large capacity and commands at a high speed. Music piece data canbe transmitted and received to/from the storage device 8 through theIEEE1394 interface 76.

That is, the transport packet to transmit the MPEG2 video data separatedby the transport IC 63, the transport packet to transmit the MPEG audiodata, and the transport packet to transmit the audio additionalinformation are transmitted to the IEEE1394 interface 76 and aresubjected to a predetermined packetizing process for transmitting themon a serial path. After that, the processed data is transmitted to thestorage device 8.

The storage device 8 is constructed by an IEEE1394 interface 80 and astorage media 81. The data transmitted from the receiver 60A via anIEEE1394 path is supplied to the IEEE1394 interface 80 and isdepacketized. The transport packet to transmit the depacketized MPEG2video data, the transport packet to transmit the MPEG audio data, andthe transport packet to transmit the audio additional information arerecorded to the storage media 81 under control of a controller (notshown) in the storage device 8.

When a predetermined operation is executed by the remote controller 71of the receiver 60A and a music piece is requested, the CPU 70 generatesa command to examine whether the requested music piece data has beenrecorded in the storage media 81 or not. The CPU 70 transmits thiscommand to the storage device 8 through the IEEE1394 interface 76. Acontroller (not shown) of the storage device 8 receives the commandthrough the IEEE1394 interface 80 and determines whether the requestedmusic piece has been recorded in the storage media 81 or not. Adetermination result is provided to the CPU 70 of the receiver 60Athrough the IEEE1394 interface. That is, if a fact that the data of therequested music piece has been recorded in the storage media 81 can bedetected, this fact is notified to the CPU 70 of the receiver 60Athrough the IEEE1394 interface 80. The MPEG audio data of the musicpiece, the MPEG2 video data as a background video image, and the audioadditional information including the words and the like are read outfrom the storage media 81 and are transmitted to the receiver 60Athrough the IEEE1394 interface 80. On the contrary, if the data of therequested music piece is not recorded in the storage media 81, this factis notified to the CPU 70 of the receiver 60A through the IEEE1394interface 80.

When the data of the requested music piece has been recorded in thestorage media 81, the receiver 60A supplies the MPEG audio data, MPEG2video data, and audio additional information of the music piece sentfrom the storage device 8 to the transport IC 63. The transport IC 63identifies the PID as mentioned above, supplies the MPEG audio data andthe MPEG2 video data to the decoders 64 and 68 and supplies the audioadditional information to the CPU 70.

When the data of the requested music piece is not recorded in thestorage media 81, the CPU 70 requests a distribution of the music piecedata through the modem 75.

FIG. 4 shows another example of a detailed construction of a receiver60B in which the receiving apparatus 5 and decoder 6 are integratedlyconstructed. The same constructing portions as those in FIG. 3 aredesignated by the same reference numerals and their descriptions areomitted.

In the receiver 60B shown in FIG. 4, an ATRAC audio decoder 90 isprovided in place of the MPEG audio decoder 64 in FIG. 3. A constructionof the other portions is substantially the same as that of the receiver60A in FIG. 3.

However, the transport IC 63 detects the PID. The transport packet totransmit the MPEG2 video data is supplied to the MPEG2 video decoder 68.The transport packet to transmit ATRAC audio data is supplied to theATRAC audio decoder 90. Since the receiver 60B in FIG. 4 does notcorrespond to the MPEG audio data and MIDI data, the transport packet totransmit those data is not separated by the transport IC 63 but the datais thrown away.

The ATRAC audio decoder 90 receives the transport packet of the ATRACaudio data from the transport IC 63 and executes an audio decodingprocess of the ATRAC system, thereby forming the audio data before datacompression. The audio data before the data compression is formed byperforming the decoded audio process. The decoded audio data isconverted into an analog audio signal by the D/A converter 65 and, afterthat, it is outputted to the KARAOKE apparatus 7 from the analog audiooutput terminals T3 and T4. The audio data decoded by the ATRAC audiodecoder 90 can be also outputted to the KARAOKE apparatus 7 through anoptical digital output interface.

The modem 75 (corresponding to the request communication terminal 9)connected to the CPU 70 is provided for the receiver 60B in a mannersimilar to the case of FIG. 3. Through the modem, the music pieceidentification number of the requested music piece and informationshowing a decodable compressing system (ATRAC audio in case of FIG. 4)are transmitted to the data distribution control apparatus 3 via thepublic line 10.

Further, the IEEE1394 interface 76 is connected to the transport IC 63.The ATRAC audio data, MPEG2 video data, and audio additional informationcan be transmitted and received to/from the storage device 8 in a mannersimilar to the case of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows another example of a detailed construction of a receiver60C in which the receiving apparatus 5 and decoder 6 are integratedlyconstructed. The same constructing portions as those in FIG. 3 or 4 aredesignated by the same reference numerals and their descriptions areomitted.

In the receiver 60C shown in FIG. 5, a MIDI data processing unit 100 isprovided in place of the MPEG audio decoder 64 or ATRAC audio decoder 90in FIG. 3 or 4. A construction of the other portions is substantiallythe same as that of the receiver 60A or 60B in FIG. 3 or 4.

However, the transport IC 63 detects the PID. The transport packet totransmit the MPEG2 video data is supplied to the MPEG2 video decoder 68.The transport packet to transmit MIDI data is supplied to the MIDI dataprocessing unit 100. Since the receiver 60C in FIG. 5 does notcorrespond to the MPEG audio data and ATRAC audio data, the transportpacket to transmit those data is not separated by the transport IC 63but the data is thrown away.

The MIDI data processing unit 100 receives the transport packet of theMIDI data from the transport IC 63 and executes an audio process. Theoutput audio signal is outputted to the KARAOKE apparatus 7 from theanalog audio output terminals T3 and T4.

The modem 75 (corresponding to the request communication terminal 9)connected to the CPU 70 is provided for the receiver 60C in a mannersimilar to the case of FIG. 3 or 4. Through the modem, the music pieceidentification number of the requested music piece and informationshowing a decodable compressing system (MIDI data in case of FIG. 3) aretransmitted to the data distribution control apparatus 3 via the publicline 10. Further, the IEEE1394 interface 76 is connected to thetransport IC 63. The MIDI data, MPEG2 video data, and audio additionalinformation can be transmitted and received to/from the storage device 8in a manner similar to the case of FIG. 3.

An example of a method of distributing the music piece data will now bedescribed by using flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7. First, FIG. 6 is aflowchart for the operation on the receiver side to receive thecompressed music piece data. This flowchart is common for the receivers60A, 60B, and 60C described in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. In step S1, the userselects a requested music piece by the receiver 60. That is, the userinputs the identification number allocated to a desired music piece tothe receiver 60 by the remote controller 71 with reference to a book inwhich a music piece list has been written, so that he can select therequested music piece. In step S2, a check is made to see if the musicpiece data of the selected requested music piece exists in the storagedevice 8 in which the music piece data has been stored. If there is themusic piece data in the storage device 8, the processing routineadvances to step S6. When there is not the music piece data, step S3follows.

In step S3, since the music piece data of the request music piece doesnot exist in the storage device 8, a request to designate theidentification number of the music piece and the reproduciblecompressing system is sent to the data distribution control apparatus 3by the request communication terminal 9 through the public line 10 suchas a telephone line or the like. In step S4, after the request wasperformed, the user waits until the desired music piece data is receivedby the receiver 60. In step S5, when the music piece data isdistributed, a check is made to see if the music piece data is perfect.If it is determined that the music piece data is perfect, step S6follows. When it is decided that the music piece data is imperfect, stepS8 follows. In step S8, the selected music piece is again requested bythe request communication terminal 9 and the user waits until thedesired music piece data can be received by the receiver 60 (step S4).When the distributed music piece data is the perfect data, thecompressing system is confirmed and the decompressing process isperformed in the decoder 6 in step S6. In step S7, the decompressedmusic piece data is reproduced by the KARAOKE apparatus 7.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus on thebroadcasting station side for distributing the compressed music piecedata as an example. In step S11, when there is no request of the musicpiece, the music piece data of a new music or the like is automaticallydistributed by the data distribution control apparatus 3. In step S12, acheck is made to see if the request has been sent to the datadistribution control apparatus 3 through the public line 10. When therequest is not yet sent, the processing routine advances to step S11.When the request is supplied, step S13 follows. In step S13, the musicpiece data of the designated compressing system is searched andextracted from the music piece server 2. In step S14, the extractedmusic piece data is distributed through the digital satellitebroadcasting equipment 1.

FIG. 8 shows a construction of an example of the request data to betransmitted by the request communication terminal 9 to the datadistribution control apparatus 3 through the public line 10. A command21 showing the request, an identification number 22 of the music pieceselected by the user, and compressing system designation data 23 whichcan be reproduced by the KARAOKE apparatus side are designated for therequest data. Further, an identification number 24 (also stored in theIC card 74) of the KARAOKE apparatus to specify the receivable KARAOKEapparatus when the requested music piece data is distributed through thedigital satellite broadcasting is also transmitted as request data.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of another example of the embodiment of theinvention. In this example, the operations such that the music piecedata which has previously been compressed by a plurality of compressingsystems on the distributing system side is stored into the music pieceserver and the requested music piece is searched from the music piecesstored in the music piece server as mentioned above are not performedbut the music piece data is compressed in a real-time manner by thedesignated compressing system and is transmitted. That is, the musicpiece signal which is not compressed has been stored in a music pieceserver 14. The requested music piece is searched and extracted from themusic piece server 14 on the basis of the request from the receiverside. Any one of a plurality of data compression encoders 12 ofdifferent compressing systems provided so that the music piece data canbe distributed by the designated compressing system is selected by aselection switching apparatus 13. The music piece data is compressed bythe designated compressing system and is transmitted. The music piecedata compressed as mentioned above is distributed through the digitalsatellite broadcasting equipment 1 to the receiver side which requested.

On the receiver side, a proper one of the decoders 6 corresponding to aplurality of different compressing systems is selected by a selectionswitching apparatus 15 on the basis of the compressing system of themusic piece data received by the receiving apparatus 5. The decoder 6selected as mentioned above decompresses the received music piece dataand supplies to the KARAOKE apparatus 7. Further, the received musicpiece data is supplied and stored into the storage device 8.

FIG. 10 shows a detailed construction of a transmitting station in amusic piece distributing system to which another example of theinvention is applied.

In FIG. 10, the MIDI data formed by the MIDI data forming apparatus 41is registered into the MIDI data server 42. The MIDI data registered inthe MIDI data server 42 is sent to the MIDI data transmitting system 43and is packetized and, after that, it is supplied to the multiplexer 44.Since it is difficult to perform the encoding process in a real-timemanner to the MIDI data, the MIDI data is preliminarily encoded andregistered into the MIDI data server 42.

The music piece signal which is not compressed has been registered inthe music piece source registering system 45 (corresponding to 14 inFIG. 9). The music piece signal from the music piece source registeringsystem 45 is supplied to the MPEG audio encoder 46 and ATRAC audioencoder 49 through the selection switching apparatus 13 and are encoded,respectively. After that, the encoded signals are transmitted to theMPEG audio transmitting system 48 and ATRAC audio transmitting system 51and are packetized here and, after that, they are sent to themultiplexer 44. A switching signal from the data distribution controlapparatus 3 (FIG. 9) is supplied to the selection switching apparatus13. In response to the switching signal, the music piece signal from themusic piece source registering system 45 is selectively supplied to theMPEG audio encoder 46 or ATRAC audio encoder 49.

Further, the audio additional information such as words, music pieceinformation, and the like from the audio additional informationregistering system 52 is registered into the audio additionalinformation database 53. The audio additional information registered inthe audio additional information database 53 is sent to the audioadditional information transmitting system 54 and is packetized and,after that, it is sent to the multiplexer 44.

The video signal from the background video source registering system 55is supplied to the MPEG2 video encoder 56 and is encoded and, afterthat, it is registered into the MPEG2 video data server 57. The MPEG2video data registered in the MPEG2 video data server is sent to theMPEG2 video data transmitting system 58 and is packetized and, afterthat, it is supplied to the multiplexer 44.

In the multiplexer 44, the MIDI data packet from the MIDI datatransmitting system 43, the MPEG audio packet from the MPEG audiotransmitting system 48, the ATRAC audio packet from the ATRAC audiotransmitting system 51, the audio additional information packet from theaudio additional information transmitting system 54, and the MPEG2 datapacket from the MPEG2 video data transmitting system 58 are time-basemultiplexed and are enciphered by using a scrambling key.

An output of the multiplexer 44 is transferred to the radio wavetransmitting system 59 and processes such as error correction coding ofa convolution code, a Reed Solomon code, or the like, QPSK modulation,frequency conversion, and the like are executed here. After that, theprocessed signal is transmitted from the antenna to the satellite 4.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a detailed construction of a receiver 60D inwhich the receiving apparatus 5 and decoder 6 are integratedlyconstructed and to which another example of the invention is applied.The same constructing portions as those in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 aredesignated by the same reference numerals and their descriptions areomitted.

On the basis of a command from the CPU 70, the transport IC 63 separatesa desired transport packet from the stream from the descrambler 62. Apacket identifier (PID) showing the kind of transmission data isprovided in a header portion of the transport packet. The transport IC63 detects the PID. The transport packet to transmit the MPEG2 videodata is supplied to the MPEG2 video decoder 68. The transport packet totransmit the audio additional information is supplied to the CPU 70. TheCPU 70 processes the supplied audio additional information andsuperimposes to the background video signal decoded by the MPEG2 videodecoder 68.

The CPU 70 controls selection switching apparatuses 15 and 77 so as toselect the audio decoder corresponding to the compressing system of therequested music piece. That is, the selection switching apparatuses 15and 77 are controlled as follows. When the music piece is requested bythe compressing system of the MPEG audio, the MPEG audio decoder 64 isselected. When the music piece is requested by the compressing system ofthe ATRAC audio, the ATRAC audio decoder 90 is selected. When the musicpiece is requested by the MIDI system, the MIDI data processing unit 100is selected.

The MPEG audio decoder 64 receives the transport packet of the MPEGaudio data from the selection switching apparatus 15 and executes anaudio decoding process of the MPEG audio system, thereby forming theaudio data before the data compression. The decoded audio data isconverted into an analog audio signal by a D/A converter 65-2 and, afterthat, it is supplied to the selection switching apparatus 77.

The ATRAC audio decoder 90 receives the transport packet of the ATRACaudio data from the selection switching apparatus 15 and executes theaudio decoding process of the ATRAC system, thereby forming the audiodata before the data compression. The decoded audio data is convertedinto an analog audio signal by a D/A converter 65-1 and, after that, itis supplied to the selection switching apparatus 77.

The MIDI data processing unit 100 receives the transport packet of theMIDI data from the selection switching apparatus 15 and executes anaudio process and supplies an output signal to the selection switchingapparatus 77.

The analog audio signal supplied to the selection switching apparatus 77is outputted to the KARAOKE apparatus 7 from the analog audio outputterminals T3 and T4.

The modem 75 (corresponding to the request communication terminal 9)connected to the CPU 70 is provided for the receiver 60D. Through themodem, the music piece identification number of the requested musicpiece and information showing a desired compressing system (MPEG audioin case of FIG. 3) are transmitted to the data distribution controlapparatus 3 via the public line 10.

Further, the IEEE1394 interface 76 is connected to the transport IC 63.The transport packet to transmit the MPEG2 video data separated by thetransport IC 63, the transport packet to transmit the MPEG audio data,ATRAC audio data, or MIDI data, and the transport packet to transmit theaudio additional information are transmitted to the IEEE1394 interface76. A predetermined packetizing process to transmit those packets on aserial path is performed. After that, the resultant signal istransmitted to the storage device 8 and is recorded into the storagemedia 81.

When a predetermined operation is executed by the remote controller 71of the receiver 60D and a music piece is requested, the CPU 70 generatesa command to examine whether the requested music piece data has beenrecorded in the storage media 81 or not. The CPU 70 transmits thiscommand to the storage device 8 through the IEEE1394 interface 76. Acontroller (not shown) of the storage device 8 receives the commandthrough the IEEE1394 interface 80 and determines whether the requestedmusic piece has been recorded in the storage media 81 or not. Adiscrimination result is provided to the CPU 70 of the receiver 60Dthrough the IEEE1394 interface. That is, if a fact that the data of therequested music piece has been recorded in the storage media 81 can bedetected, this fact is notified to the CPU 70 of the receiver 60Dthrough the IEEE1394 interface 80. The audio data (compressed by any oneof the MPEG audio, ATRAC audio, and MIDI data) of the music piece, theMPEG2 video data as a background video image, and the audio additionalinformation including the words and the like are read out from thestorage media 81 and are transmitted to the receiver 60D through theIEEE1394 interface 80. On the contrary, if the data of the requestedmusic piece is not recorded in the storage media 81, this fact isnotified to the CPU 70 of the receiver 60D through the IEEE1394interface 80.

When the data of the requested music piece has been recorded in thestorage media 81, the receiver 60D supplies the audio data of the musicpiece, the MPEG2 video data, and the audio additional information sentfrom the storage device 8 to the transport IC 63. The transport IC 63identifies the PID as mentioned above, supplies the MPEG2 video data tothe MPEG2 video decoder 68 and supplies the audio additional informationto the CPU 70. The CPU 70 controls the selection switching apparatuses15 and 77 on the basis of the compression identification informationsupplied from the transport IC 63. That is, the selection switchingapparatuses 15 and 77 are controlled as follows. In the case where theaudio data transmitted from the IEEE1394 interface 76 is based on thecompressing system of the MPEG audio, the MPEG audio decoder 64 isselected. In case of the compressing system being ATRAC audio, the ATRACaudio decoder 90 is selected. In case of the MIDI system, the MIDI dataprocessing unit 100 is selected.

The audio data supplied through the IEEE1394 interface 76 as mentionedabove is processed by any one of the MPEG audio decoder 64, ATRAC audiodecoder 90, and MIDI data processing unit 100 and is outputted to theKARAOKE apparatus 7 from the analog audio output terminals T3 and T4through the selection switching apparatus 77.

An example of methods of distributing music piece data using the systemsof FIGS. 9-11 will now be described with reference to the flowcharts ofFIGS. 12 and 13. First, FIG. 12 is a flowchart for the operation of anexample on the receiver side for receiving the compressed music piecedata. In step S21, the user selects a requested music piece by thereceiver 60. A method of selecting the requested music piece is the sameas that mentioned above. In step S22, a compressing system of the musicpiece data which is distributed is designated. There is also apossibility such that the sound quality of the music piece differsdepending on the designated compressing system. In step S23, a check ismade to see if the selected music piece data has been stored in thestorage device 8. If the music piece data has been stored in the storagedevice 8, the processing routine advances to step S27. When the musicpiece data is not stored, step S24 follows.

In step S24, a request containing the identification number of the musicpiece and the compressing system for its distribution is transmitted tothe data distribution control apparatus 3 through the public line 10 bythe request communication terminal 9. In step S25, the user waits untilthe requested music piece data can be received by the receivingapparatus 5. In step S26, if the music piece data was distributed, acheck is made to see if the data is perfect. When the data is determinedto be perfect, step S27 follows. When the data is decided to beimperfect, step S29 follows. In step S29, since the data is imperfect,the selected music piece is again requested by the request communicationterminal 9 and step S25 follows. In step S27, the decoder 6corresponding to the compressing system of the received music piece datais selected by the selection switching apparatus 15 and the music piecedata is decompressed. In step S28, the decompressed music piece data isreproduced by the KARAOKE apparatus 7.

FIG. 13 is the flowchart for the operation of an example on thebroadcasting station side for distributing the compressed music piecedata. In step S31, when there is no request of a music piece, musicpiece data of a new song or the like is automatically distributed by thedata distribution control apparatus 3. In step S32, a check is made tosee if the request of the music piece has been transmitted to the datadistribution control apparatus 3 through the public line 10. If there isno request, step S31 follows. If the request is supplied, step S33follows. In step S33, the music piece requested by the request issearched and extracted from the music piece server 14. In step S34, asfor the extracted music piece data, the compression encoder 12corresponding to the requested compressing system is selected by theselection switching apparatus 13. The extracted music piece signal iscompressed by the requested compressing system. In step S35, the musicpiece data compressed as mentioned above is distributed through thedigital satellite broadcasting equipment 1 to the KARAOKE apparatuswhich requested.

Although the embodiment has been described on the assumption that thereis only the music piece server 2 provided on the broadcasting stationside or the original music piece server 14, both of the music pieceserver 2 and the original music piece server 14 can be also combined andprovided on the broadcasting station side. As an example of theoperation in this instance, when there is a request of the music piecefrom the KARAOKE apparatus, the music piece server 2 is first searched.When there is the music piece data of the requested compressing system,the music piece data is distributed to the KARAOKE apparatus whichrequested. When the music piece data of the requested compressing systemdoes not exist in the music piece server 2, the music piece is searchedand extracted from the music piece server 14. The data compressionencoder 12 according to the requested compressing system is selected andthe music piece data is compressed. After that, the compressed musicpiece data is distributed to the KARAOKE apparatus which requested.

In the embodiment, when the music piece is requested from the KARAOKEapparatus side to the distribution center, the public line is used.However, it is also possible to use an interactive image informationsystem (CAPTAIN: Character And Pattern Telephone Access InformationNetwork) for providing image information such as characters, figure, andthe like in accordance with a request of the user by using a televisionreceiver as a terminal and connecting it to the information centerthrough the public line network. That is, it is also possible to use aVideoTex network which is used for accounting of the communication typeKARAOKE system.

In the embodiment, the number of the public line can be also set forevery compressing system requested from the KARAOKE apparatus. In thisinstance, since the number of the music piece which is inputted to theKARAOKE apparatus by the operator also differs for every compressingsystem, the number of the public line can be also set in accordance withthe compressing system.

According to the invention, since the original music piece can be usedas it is, the music piece data for KARAOKE can be easily formed.Further, the user can sing the original music piece without losing themood of the music piece.

According to the invention, a troublesomeness for the inputtingoperation which is required when the MIDI data is formed is eliminatedand an erroneous input of data can be prevented. That is, the musicpiece data can be formed even by a person who does not have a specialtechnique. Further, since the operation to collect the scores or toconfirm whether the mood is the same as that of the original music pieceor not or the like is unnecessary, a period of time that is required toform data can be reduced.

According to the invention, the music piece data can be uniformlyreproduced irrespective of the function and ability of a MIDI musicsource on the KARAOKE apparatus side. Further, since the music piecedata is distributed in a compressing system format and in a data formatsuch as MIDI or the like which have been designated, the data adapted tothe function on the KARAOKE apparatus side can be transmitted.

What is claimed is:
 1. A music piece distributing apparatus fordistributing music piece data on the basis of a request from a remotereceiver, characterized by comprising: receiving means for receiving arequest signal from said receiver including at least music pieceidentification information and compressing system identificationinformation; and transmitting means for transmitting music piece data inwhich a music piece corresponding to the music piece identificationinformation included in said received request signal has been compressedby a compressing system corresponding to the compressing systemidentification information included in the request signal.
 2. A musicpiece receiving apparatus for requesting music piece data of a musicpiece selected by the user to a remote music piece distributingapparatus and receiving and outputting the music piece data distributedfrom the music piece distributing apparatus, characterized bycomprising: forming means for forming a request signal including atleast music piece identification information to identify said selectedmusic piece and compressing system identification information toidentify a compressing system when the music piece is distributed;transmitting means for transmitting said formed request signal to saidmusic piece distributing apparatus; receiving means for receiving themusic piece data distributed from said music piece distributingapparatus; and decoding means for decoding the received music piece databy a compression decoding system corresponding to the compressing systemdesignated by said compressing system identification information.
 3. Amusic piece distributing method of distributing music piece data on thebasis of a request from a remote receiver, comprising the steps of:receiving a request signal from said receiver including at least musicpiece identification information and compressing system identificationinformation; and transmitting music piece data in which a music piececorresponding to the music piece identification information included insaid received request signal has been compressed by a compressing systemcorresponding to the compressing system identification informationincluded in the request signal.
 4. A music piece receiving method ofrequesting music piece data of a music piece selected by the user to aremote music piece distributing apparatus and receiving and outputtingthe music piece data distributed from the music piece distributingapparatus, comprising the steps of: forming a request signal includingat least music piece identification information to identify saidselected music piece and compressing system identification informationto identify a compressing system when the music piece is distributed;transmitting said formed request signal to said music piece distributingapparatus; receiving the music piece data distributed from said musicpiece distributing apparatus; and decoding the received music piece databy a compression decoding system corresponding to the compressing systemdesignated by said compressing system identification information.
 5. Amusic piece distributing system in which a music piece distributingapparatus distributes music piece data on the basis of a request from aremote receiver, wherein in said receiver, a request signal including atleast music piece identification information to identify said selectedmusic piece and compressing system identification information toidentify a compressing system when the music piece is distributed isformed and said formed request signal is transmitted to said music piecedistributing apparatus, and in said music piece distributing apparatus,the transmitted request signal is received from said receiver, and themusic piece data in which the music piece corresponding to the musicpiece identification information included in said received requestsignal has been compressed by the compressing system corresponding tothe compressing system identification information included in therequest signal is transmitted.
 6. A music piece distributing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein receiver identification information toidentify the receiver is further included in said request signal, andsaid music piece data is distributed to the receiver corresponding tosaid receiver identification information.
 7. A music piece distributingapparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said apparatuscomprises: first storing means for storing music piece data which haspreviously been compressed by a plurality of compressing systems by anamount of only a plurality of music pieces; and first extracting meansfor extracting the music piece identification information included insaid received request signal and the music piece data corresponding tothe compressing system identification information from said firststoring means, and said transmitting means transmits the music piecedata extracted by said first extracting means.
 8. A music piecedistributing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that saidapparatus comprises: second storing means for storing a plurality ofmusic piece signals; second extracting means for extracting the musicpiece signal corresponding to the music piece identification informationincluded in said received request signal from said second storing means;and compressing means for compressing said extracted music piece signalby the compressing system corresponding to the compressing systemidentification information included in said received request signal, andsaid transmitting means transmits the music piece data compressed bysaid compressing means.
 9. A music piece distributing apparatusaccording to claim 1, characterized in that said apparatus comprises:third storing means for storing additional information of music piecesby an amount of a plurality of music pieces; and third extracting meansfor extracting the additional information of the music piececorresponding to the music piece identification information included insaid received request signal from said third storing means, and saidtransmitting means transmits the extracted additional informationtogether with the music piece data.
 10. A music piece distributingapparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said apparatuscomprises: fourth storing means for storing video informationcorresponding to music pieces by an amount of a plurality of musicpieces; and fourth extracting means for extracting the video informationof the music piece corresponding to the music piece identificationinformation included in said received request signal from said fourthstoring means, and said transmitting means transmits the extracted videoinformation together with the music piece data.
 11. A music piecedistributing apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that saidvideo information is a signal compressed by a predetermined compressingsystem.
 12. A music piece distributing apparatus according to claim 1,characterized in that said apparatus comprises: first storing means forstoring music piece data which has previously been compressed by aplurality of compressing systems by an amount of only a plurality ofmusic pieces; second storing means for storing a plurality of musicpiece signals; first detecting means for detecting whether the musicpiece data corresponding to the music piece identification informationand the compressing system identification information included in saidreceived request signal has been stored in said first storing means ornot; fifth extracting means for extracting the requested music piecedata from said first storing means in the case where the requested musicpiece data has been stored in the first storing means as a result ofsaid detection; sixth extracting means for extracting the requestedmusic piece signal from said second storing means when the requestedmusic piece data is not stored in said first storing means as a resultof said detection; and compressing means for compressing the music piecesignal extracted by said sixth extracting means by the compressingsystem corresponding to the compressing system identificationinformation included in said received request signal, and saidtransmitting means transmits the music piece data which is outputtedfrom said fifth extracting means or said compressing means.
 13. A musicpiece receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said formingmeans further forms a request signal including receiver identificationinformation to identify a receiver, and said receiving means receivesonly a transmitted signal in the case where said signal has beentransmitted to said receiver itself.
 14. A music piece receivingapparatus according to claim 2, characterized by comprising fifthstoring means for storing said received music piece data.
 15. A musicpiece receiving apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in thatsaid apparatus comprises: second detecting means for detecting whetherthe music piece data of the music piece selected by the user has beenstored in said fifth storing means or not; and seventh extracting meansfor extracting the selected music piece data from said fifth storingmeans in the case where the selected music piece data has been stored insaid fifth storing means as a result of said detection, and in the casewhere the selected music piece data is not stored in said fifth storingmeans as a result of said detection, said request signal is formed bysaid forming means.
 16. A music piece receiving apparatus according toclaim 2, characterized in that said receiving means further receivesadditional information accompanied in the transmitted music piece data.17. A music piece receiving apparatus according to claim 2,characterized in that said receiving means further receives videoinformation corresponding to the transmitted music piece data.
 18. Amusic piece receiving apparatus according to claim 14, characterized inthat said fifth storing means stores additional information and videoinformation transmitted together with the music piece data.
 19. A musicpiece receiving apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in thatsaid apparatus comprises: decoding means constructed by a plurality ofdecoders corresponding to different compressing systems; and selectingmeans for selecting the decoder corresponding to the compressing systemdesignated by said request signal from said plurality of decoders, andsaid distributed music piece data is supplied to the selected decoder.